Brew city: Underground
by Mr. Aanonymous
Summary: Legacies. That's what its all about. Your partner, your family, your city, your whole country. Its all about those that came before you. The constant comparison! Who can live their life living someone else's dream? But that's not my way. When i'm done, everyone will know the name Duncan.
1. Chapter 1

_"Hey chief, anyone tell ya I don't like surprises?" Duncan asked, eyeing the guy next to the camera as he kicked his feet up on a crate. The same man pulled out his phone, its screen was bright blue with bold golden numbers of 9-1-1 at the top as the guy's thumb inching toward the green call button at the bottom. Duncan inhaled. "Okay then."_

 _An intern ran up to Duncan and handed him a stack of papers with a post-it note marked 'script'._

 _"Well, just in case I lose this." Duncan smirked as he dropped the papers into the waste bin next to his chair. "Name's Duncan. If you haven't seen my last show,_ totally dumb _, ya did yourself a favor. Huh-"_

 _Duncan asked as another intern ran up and handed him another stack of papers, its post-it note marked 'contract'. Duncan snorted as he ripped off the first page, crumbled it into a ball and tossed it at the intern. Duncan laughed as it hit the back of the guy's head._

 _"So yeah, TD got canned. Finally!" Duncan whistled in relief. "Thank god. That show was obsessed with me. I had to blow up a building to get kicked off, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Suck it Chris...Seriously. Its probably the only way a guy like you is gonna make it in whatever hole they dumped you in."_

 _As another intern ran up to him, Duncan crumbled up another ball only to hear the guy next to the camera cough as he held up Duncan's contract, a lit match right under it. Duncan sighed, tossing the ball of paper behind him as he rolled his eyes._

 _"Yeah yeah, geez. Dick." Duncan folded his arms. "Yuuuup, new show. New cast. New host. Don't know squat about any of it, but they agreed that if I join up for the season they shave time off my sentence. I know that sounds familiar, but I'm not worried. As long as I'm not jumping off a cliff on the first day, it'll be a step up over my last gig."_

 _Duncan eyed at the guy next to the camera again._

 _"Low bar."_

Raft Clove- Underground

Chapter 1- pilot.

" _OOH-RAH!_ " Duncan roared, charging down the stairs, hopping over the bottom and diving at the ground. Rolling on the hard wood of the floor until he was in the center of the room and jumped to his feet. Duncan grew a fighter's grin as he scanned the dark space and found no hints of life. "Marine sound. Semper FI."

After a few empty jabs at the air, Duncan slumped off his backpack and pulled out a small fist sized camping lantern. Clicking it on, the ruby red light shined in the formerly pitch black room just enough to show the place really was as advertised. The room had no furniture, nothing but cracked and loose floorboards, the old flower wall paper was torn and ripped, showing exposed brick. The windows Duncan could spot were boarded up with only small slivers of silver light shining through. It was dark. It was dirty. It was probably crawling with all sorts of pests, but as far as Duncan could tell there were no people.

"Boom!" Duncan thundered, stomping his foot on the ground and all but snapping through a few of the floorboards. After peaking to the side to make sure, Duncan switched the light from red to green. Necessary visibility is nice and all, but once you were certain of security why not have some fun and it was Duncan's favorite color. "Alrighty leprechaun, take me to the pot of gold."

"Hiyah!" Duncan shrieked, jumping in the air, his legs spinning in a flailing kick before he landed on his feet at the window furthest from the stairs. "Karate sound."

Grabbing the top of the far right board, just under the nail, Duncan tried prying it loose only to have the part he gripped rip off. The rest of the board on the window staying in place. Putting down the lantern, Duncan squinted at the boards nailed to the window and started pulling handful after handful of the old rotted plywood until he ran out of patience and just started punching through the rest.

Looking out the now open window, Duncan saw the outside pretty much matched the room. The street was old and crumbling with cracks everywhere. The apartment building across from the one Duncan was in was little better. The bricks were just as sun torched and chipped, with some of them looking like they were barely holding on to the foundation. A large condemned sign was nailed over the front door, same as the one over Duncan's. The only real difference was that not all of the windows were boarded up.

Tilting his head at the last detail, Duncan pulled out a small camping scope from his pocket and saw no signs of life inside the windows across the street. Duncan smiled at this as he grabbed one of the handful sized pieces of wood and hurled it, crashing in the center of the window directly across from him.

"Steee-rike!" Duncan cheered, picking up another piece. "Here comes the windup."

Toss after toss, every throw hit its mark. Even after switching to other windows for fresh targets Duncan's aim never missed, his arm wasn't even feeling tired. After hitting the center square in the window in the floor above his own in the other apartment building, Duncan grinned as he reached for more lumber only to hit the deck as he saw a commercial drone flying over the building.

Crawling toward the wall, Duncan inched his head up to peak out the corner and saw the drone hovering in the street, its camera gazing at all the freshly broken windows. Duncan cursed at himself before he noticed the light from his camping lantern was still on… and how it was just in front of the window. The only window in his apartment building that wasn't boarded up anymore. Duncan kicked his lantern to the next room, with a loud rolling sound after it hit the floor and the light quickly fading.

As he sat, leaning against the brick wall, Dunk rolled his eyes as he heard the drone hovering next to the window. From the sound of it, just outside. If the window was any bigger it probably would have tried getting in. After a while the sound of the drone's tiny propellers faded. Peaking out the corner, Duncan saw the drone cruising down the empty road.

"Finally. Who buy's those things?" Duncan spat, jumping to his feet. "Time to get to work."

Duncan took one last look around the decrepit place, the light from the open window was barely enough for just the room he was in, let alone the rest of the apartment. Turning to the left, it was like a wall of blackness where the door was removed. The lantern either broken or rolled behind something. Duncan smiled at the darkness.

"Eh, one more. Cowabunga!" Duncan laughed. He jumped headfirst into the air, arms extended into the darkness and ready, landing on his hands and using his momentum Duncan pushed off the ground, twisting his legs and stomping as he landed. Swinging his scope by its lanyard Duncan smiled. "Ninja turtles."

Peaking around in the dark room for his lantern, only to find no signs to its emerald light, just the weak gray overcast sunbeam from the window, which his eyes were slowly adjusting too.

"Come on. One little kick and you break? No wonder you were so easy to shoplif- _Holy hell!_ " Duncan yelled as he flickered on the mini-flashlight of his scope, finding that he was indeed not alone. The man was taller than Duncan, but not much. His face was horribly deformed with a slashed, crooked scowl as his eyes glowed silvery green back at the intruder in his home. Duncan Jumped back, his fists up and ready only to discover that the disfigured squatter was just his reflection in a broken mirror nailed over a cabinet bolted into the wall. He disfigured face and gray web design in his black hoody was just the cracks in the glass of the mirror. "J-jesus. Dude, should'ah seen that coming."

Duncan shook his head, shining his mini-flashlight around his room, finding that it was even more decrepit than the rest of the apartment. Finally, Duncan found his tiny plastique lantern tipped over next to the cabinet, just a few feet from his foot. Its light indeed went out. Picking it up, Duncan flipped its switch a few times but it stayed dark, rolling his eyes, Duncan swatted it with his scope, its mini-flashlight still on, and his last source of light in the darkness. After a few hits it flickered back to life, bathing the room in emerald light.

Pulling out his knife Duncan jammed its blade into the drywall before pulling out a large chunk. Looking inside with the mini-flashlight while his lantern lit up the room, Duncan soon found what he was looking for and started pulling out the wires.

"Okay." Duncan said, rolling up the wires and putting them in his pack. Zipping it up, Duncan pointed at the other walls. "Eeny. Miney-"

Duncan stopped as he heard movement from inside the cabinet under the broken mirror. Looking over he could see it wasn't very big, but if he really wanted to, Duncan could squeeze himself inside. It made sense, a number of buildings in the neighborhood were abandoned and condemned. Perfect place for squatters. If Duncan heard someone screaming bloody murder gunning down the stairs like a storm trooper, he'd hide wherever he could too.

"Come on out. Not gonna hurt ya." Duncan said, inching closer to the cabinet. After a few moments of silence Duncan pulled out the last piece of wood from his hoody and tossed it at the cabinet and heard more movement inside. Gritting his teeth, Duncan crabbed the handle. "Its oka-"

Like a bat out of hell a huge fur covered beast the size of Duncan's knee shot out of the cabinet. Jumping back on his ass in surprise as the beast darted past his legs, Duncan pulled out his knife and stabbed hard into the ground, barely missing the beast's tail. Before the animal ran off into the darkness, Duncan saw the stripes in its fur.

"R-racoon, nature's ninja." Duncan breathed, his heart thumping in his chest. Taking a deep breath, Duncan wiped the sweat off his brow only to notice his hand was surprisingly wet. "Damn it."

Duncan cursed while he shined his light around him, as not only did he break his switch blade, having snapped off at the handle, but he cut himself doing it. Rolling his eyes, Duncan got up and pulled out a small first aid kit from his bag. Using the light from his lantern, Duncan bit down on his broken knife's handle and held in a scream as he splashed the open cut with rubbing alcohol. Duncan let out a grimace as he wrapped medical tape around his hand.

"I'm bleeding. Pest infested. Mold covered shit hole." Duncan muffled, the knife's handle still in his mouth. Duncan sighed as he noticed blood still on his his face in the broken mirror's reflection and wiped it off. "Yeah, I think I'm done for the day."

Packing up his gear, Duncan found his way to the bottom stairs of the apartment, spotting the raccoon crawl into a hole in the drywall as he went down. Jumping over the last few caved in steps, Duncan discovered that the bottom floor was actually worse than the second. The emerald light of his lantern showing not just the same decrepit failings of above, but also that parts of the ceiling had actually collapsed. Leaving holes that lead to piles of broken wood, nails, and wires. Taking a closer look, Duncan was very glad he rolled into the left pitch black room instead of the right.

RITZ. RITZ.

Duncan turned hard to the front door, its frame boarded shut like the windows above, its knob twisting. Looking around, fast, Duncan found no exits in the dark ruin, or even other sources of light.

RITZ. RITZ.

The only windows Duncan could see were right next to the door, and they were boarded up too, and much better than above.

GREEECH

Duncan looked away from the tugging sound, looking for a place to hide, only to find that the first floor was emptier than the second. Not even a tiny cabinet to crawl in.

BANG.

"Great, he's hitting the door now." Duncan whispered, shaking his head, a creeping feeling crawl up his spine at the sound. Suddenly the noise of a ticking clock appeared in his head. "What's he even doing her- the drone."

The realization hit Duncan like a freight train. Duncan had scouted the place out for days. The only activity the abandoned area had was at night. Even then it was nothing more than drug deals, squatters, and occasional stray dog. It was too much of a coincidence that a commercial drone flies by, peeps on Duncan's fun, and not an hour later someone shows up banging at the door. Whoever was out there, was there for him.

BANG. BANG.

Duncan sneered at the door. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run. Not in a rotting empty ruin. Even going back up the way he came would take too long with only the lantern for light. The only weapon Duncan had he broke, and he was already bleeding.

KREEEK.

Soddenly a crowbar was jammed between the door and its frame. The creaking sound of the wood bending under the strain filled the room. Biting his lip, Duncan instantly remembered the fresh image of the raccoon darting through his legs and sliding by the much larger, better armed threat.

"Why not?" Duncan shrugged, only to feel the weight of his pack fall back on his shoulders. With the element of surprise and a head start Duncan was sure he could outrun anyone, but with added weight slowing him down it cut his chances. Another image of the raccoon hit Duncan, this time was of natures ninja crawling into a hole in the wall as Duncan walked buy. "Yeah, why not?"

SNAP.

Duncan cursed as part of one of the boards broke right off before the crowbar was swapped out to the other side of the door's frame. Dropping the lantern, Duncan shrugged off his pack, ran to the nearest non-brick wall, outright punching a hole into the drywall and pulling out a chunk of it. Duncan stashed his pack none too soon, as a few whole boards snapped off the door.

"CHARGE!" Duncan roared, dashing toward the door in the emerald lit room. Ramming it shoulder first just as the crowbar was pulled out. The door snapped off its hinges and what was left of the boards, slamming back into the guy with the crowbar, knocking them both to the ground with Duncan on top. "R-reference."

The door wobbled under Duncan, as two giant work glove cloaked hands grabbed its sides, fallowed by pained grumbling. Seeing the crowbar in the left glove, Duncan jumped off the door and the man under it. Before running down the small parking lot, a black windowless van being the only thing in it.

Duncan didn't know why he was laughing as he ran down the small parking lot, its dusty gravel shifting under his feet, his best guess was nerves but he didn't know. When he made it across and about to turn the corner Duncan was almost knocked off his feet when some loud deafening sound blasted near his shoulder, hard small shards shooting into him. Turning toward the sound, Duncan saw a knuckle sized hole in the old brick wall next to him, the same crowbar from before under it. If the toss had been just a few more inches to the side…

Turning back to the door, the guy he left under it just finished standing up, pushing the decrepit door to his side next to a garbage can. The guy was a head taller than Duncan, about twice as wide if not more, and wore a dark orange hoody with some worn jeans. His dark complexion only adding to the cold look he gave to the man that just knocked him down and ran over him.

"Ya missed." Duncan didn't know why he said that, or why he was grinning like a loon at the guy, with just a bit more luck, would've put Duncan on the ground, hard. Shaking the feeling off, Duncan reached down for the crowbar. Only to feel biting pain snap into his face, right between the eyes going down his left cheek and right eyebrow. His bandaged hand covering his eye, Duncan turned from the still spinning trash can lid on the ground back to the guy at the door. His gaze even colder as he took off his gloves. "Gah."

Duncan grumbled as he turned the corner, leaving the crowbar behind. He heard a loud screeching whistle, dazed from the lid, Duncan had a hard time keeping his eyes focused. Duncan thought about how hard the throw felt as he dashed down the alley, everything blurry. So much so that Duncan couldn't see that the empty alley wasn't so empty and ran knee first into a group of trash cans.

"Damn it!"

Good news was that there was no actual garbage in the cans. The bad news was that there was nothing to break Duncan's fall into a bunch of decades old metal that probably never been cleaned, and with how loud the cans were Duncan might as well have beat a drum over a loudspeaker.

Before Duncan could even get up he heard a strange stomping sound quickly coming his way. Shaking his head to focus, Duncan peaked toward the noise, and while his vision was still a little hazy, Duncan could see a red clad figure running right at him. Strangely though, the guy's running stance was all over the place in his dash.

When the red clad figure got close enough, Duncan jumped to his feet and using his momentum, hurled one of the trash cans as hard as he could. Now, Duncan didn't expect to knock him out or anything, but he didn't think the hip tall can would just bounce off the guy's head like a rubber ball without even slowing him down.

Caught off guard by this, Duncan was in no mind to take the red clad figure head on, so he darted to the side just in time. Rolling shoulder first on the ground, Duncan jumped back on his feet, only to be met with his own trash can hurled at his face. Duncan barely managed to catch it before it hit, holding the can sideways, his hands gripping the top and bottom. But it wasn't enough, before Duncan knew it he was knocked back and rolling on the ground again. Duncan's face felt like he was smacked like a metal sheet. Though it didn't hurt nearly as bad as the trash can lid, if that made any sense.

Looking up at his red clad attacker, Duncan discovered it was actually a bright tracksuit. The guy was still on his feet… and they weren't feet. They were some kind of animal hooves covered in brown fur. What more his legs were backward, or at least his knees, judging by the way they bent and how red tracksuit did his victory in front of him.

Going further up, Duncan saw it wasn't dancing, but panicked stammering as the trash can was wrapped around his head, and he was he couldn't shake it off. Duncan guessed that when track suit tossed the can, he didn't expect Duncan to catch it as he rammed head first. Duncan couldn't make out the muffled words through the crumpled metal, only a garbled 'bahhh' sound.

Seeing red tracksuit reach up to pull of the bent trash can, Duncan acted fast and slammed his fist hard into the guy's gut. Track suit guy let out a pained breathless sigh as he toppled over, crumpling up into a little ball, the trash can lid falling off in the landing.

Red track suit guy had a more tanned complexion than Duncan, longer brown hair, and bright red sweatband that matched his suit. But that wasn't what got Duncan's attention. The guy had _horns_. Honest to god _**horns**_ on his head, coming out under the sweat band. They were large enough Duncan could wrap his hands around them, like handles.. They were the same color as his hair, and curved backwards.

Duncan reached down to touch the horns of the wheezing half animal man, but when he did he heard the same screeching whistle again. The big guy with the crowbar was eyeballing Duncan down from the corner he ran out of, crowbar in hand.

'W-what?' Duncan asked himself, eyeballing the guy back. 'Was the fight really that short? A walk to the end of a parking lot.'

"B-bahh." The half animal man grunted.

Duncan turned his gaze from the big guy to the one in the tracksuit, who gazed up at Duncan and back down the alley. A pensive look on both their faces. That's when it hit Duncan, like that trash can lid to the face. The both of them were there together and they were both looking at Duncan, hard. Duncan felt something crawling up his spine at the thought, and he didn't like it.

Duncan smiled at the guy with the crow bar, he didn't know why he did it. As he stood up Duncan pressed the horned man's head down into the dirt, he didn't know why he did it. Duncan also didn't know why his first instinct to an armed man's icy glare was to flip him off before he ran down the alley. Duncan did understand the running part just fine.

He was scared.

He was more afraid than he'd ever been in his life. And he had every right to be. Sure, Duncan knew he could get in trouble for the wires. But cops were one thing. Giant weirdos in bizarre black vans showing up just for him? And with a half animal man in a red track suit for a side-kick. Duncan could not get the horns and hooves out of his head.

As he ran Duncan didn't know when he felt his heart racing, or when he started breathing hard with each stride. Not even when his cocky dash turned into a desperate sprint. It was all capped off when Duncan heard that same screeching whistle, and just like that the same sound of a stop watch started clicking in his head. None of that mattered. Because Duncan could see his exit. He could see where he came in. He could see his way out and away from his madness. As Duncan turned a corner to go out into the street and his way to open safety... Duncan stopped in his tracks. His racing and deafening heartbeat was silent and frozen.

Because not only was the way from the alley out into the street blocked by two giant dumpsters, but between Duncan and them were two huge behemoths at opposite ends of the alley. The giant on the left side lived up to its name, because it was big. It had similar legs and hoofed feet as the guy in the track suit, but instead of tiny curling horns it had an entire bulls head with the horns and muscles to match, though under a few layers of blubber, especially at the gut. All of which its outfit of sleeveless teal maple leaf on white shirt, green cargo shorts, and tuff of human like blond hair did nothing to hide.

The other giant wasn't any shorter, and if he was only because of the lack of horns. It didn't have hooves like the other two. It had feet and toes, as like the other two it didn't wear shoes. It just wore a giant faded pair of blue overalls. The giant on the right had rubbery green skin, a mane of bright red hair, a pug nose, pointed tusks that shot out where the bottom canines should've been. All of that was underscored by the sheer amount of muscles the green giant had that matched if not exceeded the bull headed one. Both giants towered over Duncan himself, maybe twice as tall if not more.

Luckily for Duncan, neither giant seemed to have noticed him. They just continued to stare at the other, each with an eager, determined look on their faces. Duncan taking the tiniest of breaths was all it took and the giants were off. Horns and tusks interlocked. Huge rubbery meat hands were gripped against thick beefy ones. The two muscle bound giants shoving against each other as they wrestled for dominance. Neither giving an inch.

Slowly and as silently as he could Duncan backed away. He wanted no part of that. Looking down the back alley he just ran from, he saw the big guy helping the track suit dude up to his feet before the both of them turned their gazes to Duncan. The big guy in the orange hoody gave his familiar glare while the track suit guy gave a half-assed squint, still hunched over and holding the spot Duncan slugged him, his face half covered in grime. Suddenly the track suit guy's horns didn't look so huge, not compared to the bull headed monster not ten feet away.

Duncan didn't bother with bravado this time, just giving each pair of monsters a final once over before running away again. Shooting past the alleyway to the open street and Duncan's hope for a quick escape. It didn't matter. The clock was back on. Ticking away in Duncan's head as he turned into another alley, back into the abandoned and condemned neighborhood full of monsters and god knew what else.

"S-screw i-it." Duncan panted through his strides, sprinting even faster than before. Remembering the times he'd scoped the neighborhood out and the number of exits he mapped out the last few days, some of which Duncan could see right were he was at that moment. They weren't as quick or safe as the street, but they were close enough. But before he could do anything Duncan tripped over something just as he turned a corner to the far side of another apartment building. Falling face first on the hard grimy asphalt of the back alley, it hurt. After wiping off the grime from his face, Duncan looked down and saw a long, slender and clammy green hand vice gripped around his right ankle. "Holey hell!"

"Gotcha." A voice hissed. Looking up the arm Duncan saw it stretching out from the storm drain of the sidewalk next to two glowing red orbs in the darkness. Anger and fear swelled in Duncan's chest as he gripped the edge of a pot hole behind him and with all his strength Duncan yanked his leg away. The green monster refused to let go and was instead pulled through the old and crumbling concrete of the sidewalk. "Gah."

"Yeah." Duncan snarled, ripping the monster's hand off before hoisting the green creature up in front of him. Even through the small cloud of dust, Duncan could see that while the green monster was disorientated it had a look of fear and confusion on its face. "Ya got me."

"Oh cra-"

Duncan didn't let the red eyed creature finish as he kneed it hard in the crotch. Monster or no, its still gotta hurt down there. As the creature bent over gasping in pain, it took a wide open handed swing at Duncan. After catching the arm at the wrist, Duncan took a few well placed jabs at the red eyed monster's now unguarded side. The creature didn't even get a chance to cry out in pain as Duncan pulled the monster around by its wrist, kick the back of its right knee while grabbing the back of the monster's head and slamming it face first into the ground, hard.

Duncan stared at the creature for a moment before hearing a low pained grumble and kicking the red eyed monster hard to its ribs, same side too, knocking it over. As the defeated creature wheezed on, Duncan finally got a good look at it. The creature was the smallest of the bunch, a good bit shorter than Duncan, at least by a head with a much thinner frame. It had green skin like the tusked giant but with a darker shade. The distinct oval shape of its head reminded Duncan of a bird instead of a human, the bald head and now broken beak like nose only added to the image. The monster's eyes were indeed red though not glowing like before. Its face was a broken mess of red dripping scratches and gray grime on a green canvas. As one eye started to swell, it's gaze upon Duncan was one of pain, confusion and fear for its life... Until its eyes twitched to Duncan's side.

"Oh cra-"

XXXXXXXXX

" _Oh crap...what did I just jump into?"_


	2. Bravado

Brew City- Underground

Chapter 2- Bravado

"Get outta here." Duncan slammed the yellow door shut, the rusted taxi driving off. Looking down, Duncan saw the dirty crumbled burger wrappers and sticky smashed soda cup he dragged with him when he left the taxi. Kicking them in a huff, Duncan felt a wave of pain wash over him, so intense it was hard to breath. Holding his side as he caught his breath, Duncan sighed, flicking off the rotted banana peel from his shoulder. God how long was that there. "Ugh, the cab was covered in more garbage than me."

Turning to his side, Duncan looked down the block of the neighborhood and saw his family home. Sighing again, Duncan took a deep breath as he tried his best to walk over without a limp or any sign of injury. Duncan would like to believe that he did, but it was pretty obvious something was wrong with him. If for no other reason than how long it took him to walk one end of the block to the other. Standing on the sidewalk in front of the house driveway, Duncan looked up at his house.

It was a Victorian era two story house with big attic, a two vehicle garage attached to the side. It had a faded green paint job, the same color as Duncan's eyes, faded dollar bills. It was the same design as the rest of the houses on the block, only the paint job was different. The only thing that made the Thatch family home stick out was the color of the front door, jet black.

Even though it wasn't dusk yet, Duncan could see more than a few of the lights were on through the windows. Looking over, Duncan could see through the open garage that the pitch black Pick-up in it. So at the very least one of his parents was home. Duncan groaned to himself. He really didn't want to explain why he looked like he was just tossed out of a dump. Crouching down, Duncan took another look at the house windows, seeing which rooms had the lights on, so he could figure out the best ways to sneak in.

Before he could though, Duncan swung around to the street as he heard someone honking at him and cursed under his breath as a car headed straight for him. It was an old lime green sedan, probably not even going ten miles an hour. The guy behind the wheel looked a little over Duncan's age, well developed shoulders and arms were visible under the green hoody he was wearing. His dark raven black hair neatly combed over to the side, his faded emerald eyes locked on to Duncan's own, a smug grin on his face as he honked one last time.

Taking a breath in, Duncan jumped best he could to miss the car's front bumper, only to land on the car's green hood and slam into the wind shield. Duncan had his eyes shut tight, his body into a fetal position, his head protected by his arms. Not unlike earlier that day during the beating. The car abruptly stopped, sending Duncan sliding off the sleek metal hood and into the sturdy wall of the garage and landing on the cold hard cement floor.

Pain erupted throughout Duncan's body. Throbbing horribly to every spot Duncan was hit and beaten that day and more. His vision dazed as he saw spots everywhere, Duncan's head feeling like it was trying to crack open. The worst was his front. Duncan's chest was convulsing, his lungs frozen, trying desperately to breath. Duncan managed to force open his mouth to suck some air in, but there was nothing.

"Wow, that looks painful. You must've landed wrong."

Duncan looked up, focused his vision best he could and saw the driver staring down at him. A mocking concerned look on his face as he grabbed the spamming Duncan by the back of his collar and hoisted him so Duncan was sitting up, his back leaning against the wall. The driver kneeled next to Duncan as he rubbed the side of his back until he could stop spamming and breath again. Still wincing from the pain, Duncan scowled at the driver as he stood back up.

"Whelp, your turn." The driver said as he pulled out car keys from his hoody pocket, dropping them on Duncan's head as he walked away. "Have fun."

Cringing in pain, Duncan picked up the keys as he grabbed the top of the work bench next to him and hoisted himself slowly onto his feet, a few of his joints cracking on the way up as the rest of his body screamed at him. Standing up, Duncan gave a pained groan before he walked over to the door and inside the house. A few steps into the hall, Duncan heard someone walking down the flight of stairs to his right. It was the driver, his brother Donovan, carrying a cardboard box in one hand and a helmet in the other. Duncan had to bite his lip to keep himself from cussing out his brother and cursing in pain as Donovan shoved the box into his brother's side.

"Go help mom and dad fill up the car with this crap then toss it in the dumpster when you're done." Donovan ordered, putting on the helmet as walked over to the two motorcycles next to the truck. Hopping onto the green and black chopper with the punisher logo on the side, giving Duncan the finger as he cruised away. "You're turn dumbass."

Shaking his head, Duncan looked into the box. It was filled with nothing but old ceramic birds wrapped in old news papers that used to belong to his grandmother. That and an old unmarked letter. Duncan tilted his head, curious. Duncan couldn't tell what was in it, other than some kind of thick paper. Shrugging, and cringing from the pain of doing so, Duncan put the letter in his back pocket.

"Duncan." Looking over to his side, Duncan could see coming up from the living room was an older matronly looking woman, appearing to be in her mid to late 40's, though she looked rather fit for her age. She had shoulder length blond hair, wore a read sweater and blue jeans. Carrying a box of her own with a cardboard tube laying on top of it, the smile on the woman's face turned to a look of confusion and concern as she reached him. "Duncan, Look at your clothes, all covered in filth. What happened, are you okay?"

"Kinda, ma." Duncan shrugged, doing his best to hide the pain and look nonchalant. "Just lost a round of car chicken with Don."

"Ugh. I can't believe you boys are still doing that." Duncan's mother groaned. "You'd think at least one of you would've learned after the first trip to the hospital...You don't have to see a doctor do you?"

"Nah ma." Duncan wiped off the front of his shirt with one hand, as he held up the box with one arm, flinching from the pain. "Nothing's broken."

"Are you sure sweety?" Mama Thatch asked concerned, setting down her box on the floor before she went over to her son. Duncan pulled away from his mother as she reached out to him. "Duncan?"

"I'm fine Ma." Duncan slumped, and flinched from the pain. "F-fine."

"It better stay that way Duncan." Mama Thatch snapped at her son, picking the crate back up with one hand and the tube with the other. "By the time summer's over it'll be a full year sine we've had to put a cast on any of you. Think of it like this, if you and Donovan make it, you'll get that ice cream cone I promised when the twins first started it."

"Yeah ma." Duncan rolled his eyes. "An ice cream cone. Can't wait."

"And, I'll make the final payment on the last windshield you boys had to replace." Mama Thatch said flatly. "Don't tell me you smashed another one, just now."

"Um, I don't think so."

"That's good to hear." Mama Thatch raised her eye brow at him. "Do you know how many that old family car has gone through over the years?"

"Uhhh..."

"Well I know. I counted." Duncan's mother squinted her eyes at her son. "So has your father... and our insurance."

"S-soooo, Don said to fill up the car and dump it." Duncan stammered, reaching for the box his mother was holding. "You want me toooo-"

"I first got that car when I was 16. Not once did I have a problem." Mrs. Thatch shook her head, dropping her crate on top of Duncan's own in a huff. Duncan let out a wisp of pain, hunching over and doing his best to stand. Looking up, Duncan could see his mother rolling her yes, her free hand on her hip as she twirled the cardboard tube with the other. "Then suddenly you boys got your license and its practically in the shop every other week."

"I-Its n-not that bad, Ma."

"You're right of course sweety, I am exaggerating." Mama Thatch smiled sweetly at her son before she tapped the cardboard tube against Duncan's side, the exact spot where the large bull headed freak had stomped on him during the beating. Duncan grimaced and slowly sank to his knees, wincing through his teeth all the while. Dropping the boxes in a slump on the ground, holding his side where his mother poked him, Duncan felt the cardboard tube tapping his forehead. "Now, are you going to tell me what really happened? If Donovan really hurt you like that, I would have heard you two fighting in the garage."

"Ma." Duncan took a deep inhale before he forced himself back onto his feet, ignoring his joints creaking and his muscles screaming at him. "I. Am. Fine."

"If you say so sweety."

Mama Thatch sighed, shaking her head before whistling fallowed by a clap. The sound of excited pounding accompanied by a small jingling chain erupted down the hall before a giant four legged monster strolled out of the hallway. The hellish beast angrily snarled at the mother and son, a rusted broken chain that belonged with the Titanic was wrapped around its neck, slimy gore oozed down its gaping maw before it gave a hunger filled roar before it charged. The eldest Thatch jumped in front of her injured son, filled with the strength of a determined mother to defend her child from the ungodly beast.

Really it was the family bulldog. While he wouldn't win any beauty contests, he was an adorable purebred. The dog was about knee high, mostly covered in white fur, aside from the black bit around his right eye, giving the canine the look of an eye patch. The giant chain was just his dog collar, neatly patterned in green camouflage. Regular dog dribble dripped a bit as he strolled out of the hallway and into the living room. The dog's eyes spotted Mama Thatch and marched over to his beloved master, a happy chuffing sound laughed through his doggy grin as he looked up at her. Mama Thatch smiled herself down at the dog, rubbing behind his ears as she knew he liked it before the dog fell over onto his side, exposing his stomach to her.

"Oorah. Who's a good boy Chesty? Huh, who's a good boy?" Mama Thatch cooed, rubbing the dog's belly. The dog laughed out a singular bark before licking his nose."That's right, you are!

"I-I'm walking the dog," Duncan sighed, his hand gripping the crates as he leaned on them. "aren't I?"

"No, the dog is walking you." Mama Thatch nodded whistling, Chesty instantly stood back up on all fours, at attention… well as much as a dog could anyway. "Your brother dumped everything we wanted thrown away before you got here. Your father and I will shift through more of it this weekend, and since you didn't help out today, you'll be doing that while your brother gets off scott free."

"Oh come on Ma, that's bullsh-"

"Duncan. Edward. Thatch." Mama Thatch glared, her voice flat. Even the family dog straightened his gaze at the youngest Thatch.

"Sorry Ma."

"Don't you 'sorry Ma' me, young man." Mama Thatch put her left hand on her hip. "First you skip out on a family project you've known about for months, forcing the rest of us to pick up the slack. Then you come back when its all over, hurt and covered in filth. All of which you lie to me about while blaming it on your brother. I give you a chance to tell the truth and make up for it only for you to lie to me again and have the gall to complain about it, playing the victim."

"Uh, ummm," Duncan stammered. "I wouldn't say I was playing the victim."

"No, you were just going to curse to my face how I was being unfair to you." Mama Thatch deadpanned, crossing her arms. "You are right of course. I am being unfair."

Duncan took a step back from that, as whenever she said something like that with knowing smile she had on face couldn't mean anything good, especially for him. Mama Thatch unscrewed the end of the tube, her smirk only grew as she stared at her son for moment before pulling out a full Japanese katana. It was easy to recognize as it had the famous- dangerous curve of the type of sword. Its black handle was covered with overlapping green thread for a grip, decorated with a silver diamond weave in the design. The scabbard was the same solid black as the base handle but it also had the same green thread wrapped around the center, right at the base of the curve. Duncan stood in awe as his mother held up the sword over her head and pulled it partly open and free, the shining metal reflected a brilliant silver like beam of light from the lamp above it on the ceiling.

"H-holy," Duncan stammered, so distracted by the sword that he lost his grip on the creates and lost his balance. Duncan tried to catch himself but it was too late and he fell, landing on all fours, though never loosing sight of the shining blade above his mother. "I-is that real? Where did you even find that?"

"Oh, its real." Mama Thatch nodded, triumphant joy in her voice as she slammed the blade back in its scabbard. "Found it in the attic today. Apparently your great-granddaddy Deacon came back from Okinawa with a little souvenir besides a can of dirt."

"Jesus, that's awesome." Duncan cheered, jumping back up to his feet, not even bothering to hide his limp as he jumbled over to look at the sword. Only when Duncan managed to get close enough to touch it, Mama Thatch pulled it away and back into the tube, sealing it shut. "O-oh come on!"

"Ah-ah. No." Mama Thatch decreed. "This is going in storage with the rest of the valuable stuff we found today, safe. Where it belongs. If you were with us when we found it, like you were supposed to, you might have had a say in it."

"Uh-huh." Duncan snorted, folding his arms over his chest, and wheezing from the pain and effort. "S-sure Ma. I bet Donovan was all on board with that."

"Your brother is leaving to join the Marines at the end of the summer. He can't bring a sword with him. For now this is staying with me." Mama Thatch announced as she scratched Chesty's ears. "Since we're not dumping any more junk from the attic today, just leave that in the garage for now. Then I want you to walk the dog. He's been good so give him a treat when you get back."

"Where are you going?" Duncan asked.

"I just spent all morning in a moldy old attic." Mama Thatch explained, tossing Duncan Chesty's lead. "I'm going to eat and have some fun."

"Shooting range?"

"Shooting range." Mama Thatch nodded. "Now Duncan, before I go, are you sure you're okay?"

"I told you." Duncan sighed. "I am fine."

"Duncan Edward Thatch, you wouldn't lie to your mother would you?"

"No ma," Duncan answered, a wide smile on his face, sarcastically talking through his exposed closed teeth. "I'd never do that."

"Alright than, give chesty two laps instead of his usual one." Mama Thatch ordered. "And you will be here this weekend to help me and your father. Don't even think of sneaking out of it."

"Oh, ma i'd-

"Save it." Mama Thatch rolled her eyes, holding up the tube which held the sword. "We found this on the first day Duncan. Imagine what else is up there. I can already here it now. 'Dibs'."

"I'll be there Ma." Duncan nodded, his eyes staring hard at the tube in his mothers hands.

"You better be." Mama Thatch said, rolling her eyes as she quickly jabbed her son in the side again with the tube. Duncan was too slow to block it and grimaced, curling up from the pain again. Mama Thatch sighed as she walked out the door to the garage, tube still in hand. "So stubborn."

"She never plays fair." Duncan sighed, rubbing the spot his mother jabbed until the pain faded. Looking down at the bulldog at his feet, the same toothy grin the dog gave Duncan's mother staring back up at him. "Well come on boy. Lets go." 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"We're here, ya flee bitten slobber machine." Duncan groaned, stopping just before the gate. Chesty himself gave a doggy grin as he stood before the old wooden 'dog park' sign bolted into the support poles of the chain link fence. A line of actual slobber rolling down droopy mug. Almost like he was actually reading it before turning back to his master and ruffled up against Duncan's leg. Just like that it felt like someone ripped off the top layer of skin and replaced it with hot coals. 'What, when did i get hurt there?'

Duncan shook his head, ignoring it as he opened the waist high chain link fence door. The shin sized dog instantly made a dash for the open field of the park, but Duncan pinned him against the support pole using the very same leg the dog rubbed against. To Duncan's surprise the pressure actually lessened the pain.

"Not yet mutt." Duncan ordered, pointing down at the dog's excited face as the little guy let out his famous low whine. Duncan grabbed further up the lead as he walked in, keeping the dog close before he could get a running start. "Don't gimme that look."

The park was exactly how anyone'd expect it. Kinda small. Gates surrounding everything. Plenty of grass, leaves, trees, signs everywhere telling owners to pick up after their mutts. Though, from what Duncan could see, there were only a few other owners and their dogs at the park. Which he was thankful for, letting out another sigh before cringing at the wave of pain it caused. Because of that, Duncan almost fell over as the dog pulled against his lead, almost like he was hopping to the park. Duncan shook his head and suddenly a rod of glass shattered in his neck.

"Aahh- _Damnit_..." Duncan shut his eyes as he sucked in a breath while he kicked in the gate, doing his best to stay on his feet as chesty pulled him into the park. Shaking off the pain, Duncan pulled back hard on the leash, stopping the dog hard in its tracks. Slitting his eyes open, Duncan could see Chesty looking back up at with anticipation, hopping up and down on his front paws. "Sit. Stay. You do, I'll let you go."

To Duncan's own surprise, Chesty actually did as he was told. Butt down, mouth closed, eye's up. Almost like he was a Marine at attention. All he was missing was the cameo.

" _Ruff_." Chesty barked up at Duncan, almost like he was sounding off.

"Okay, fine. Dumb dog."

Duncan rolled his eyes as he reached down to Chesty's collar and the second he did... imagine there's this really old door, well oiled, swings open with a nudge with not so much as a squeak. Then suddenly it freezes solid. None of the hinges can handle it and shatter to glass mid swing. Now imagine that was Duncan's joints, from ankles all the way to his neck. The latter of which still felt like crushed concrete. Duncan couldn't even whimper as he dropped to his knees and then to his side. As his face hit the floor, the rest of his body started screaming along with his joints fallowed by the memory of every boxing movie where they start beating on slabs of meat. Like earlier that day when his brother ran him over with the family car, Duncan found himself slumped to his side and unable to breath aside from small gasps. Using all the strength he had left, Duncan tried to pull his body together, or at least shift himself to his back to breath better. Try as he might, he just couldn't.

Then suddenly there was a wetness padding his face, numbing his pain. Opening his eyes, Duncan saw none other than his dog Chesty licking his face down to below his chin. Soon enough the shattered rod of glass was his neck again, the pain almost gone and fading. Not long after Duncan was back to doing full breaths. It still hurt to do so but at least he was able. Same thing when it came to moving, not a lot but some. Just as suddenly as he started, Chesty stopped licking his master. Looking up, Duncan saw the dog hovering over him with a droopy, smug grin. Well, as smug as a Bulldog can look anyway.

"G-gah. Le-let me lay here dog." Duncan coughed, his chest on fire. "Go away."

" _Ruff_!" The dog hollered back, nodding to his master.

Like before, the dog did as he was ordered and walked away... with the leash still attached and wrapped around Duncan's wrist. The family Bulldog padded on in happy struts, seemingly oblivious to the 200 plus pound sack of dead weight of his master he was dragging behind him. Duncan couldn't so much as growl in protest as he tried to hold his broken body from falling apart, which was exactly what it felt it was doing. Duncan couldn't even enjoy the irony of the dog dragging him around to a place _he_ didn't want to go, like so many cold or rainy nights when Chesty had to be let outside to do his business but refused to do so much as roll over. The only part Duncan could enjoy was the mileage he could get out of his parents from how strong the dog was, because as far as he could tell, Duncan's weight wasn't even slowing the mutt down. Still hurt like a bitch though. Every lump of dirt, hole, stick or rock they ran over hurt ten times worse.

"S-stupid dog."

After what felt like forever the 'walk' suddenly stopped, everything was spinning when Duncan opened his eyes with his breathing shallow and erratic.

" _Ruff_."

Focusing his eyes, the gray blob above him focused into the slobber dripping mug of a bulldog with a black patch over one eye.

"I-I always knew the grim reaper was as ugly as some inbred runt, but wow." Duncan joked, it hurt to smile but it was worth it. Chesty sneezed at his master's comment, spraying Duncan in what he hoped was doggy drool before sniffing down his body. Looking back up at Duncan's face, Chesty barked at his master before stomping his two front paws to his side. Duncan could do little more than clamp his jaw shut to hold in a scream. "Take a joke, asshole."

Chesty the Bulldog stomped on Duncan again, same spot too.

"Gah." Duncan breathed. "Worst. Dog. Ever!"

Chesty lets out a triumphant bark at Duncan before smugly waddling on, the leash slipping off his master's wrist. Taking a deep a breath as he could, Duncan groaned out a sigh trying to relax. As he stretched his arms out, Duncan felt a small piece of plastic next to his leg. Peaking down, Duncan saw a small pill bottle. Fighting through the pain, Duncan reached down and grabbed it before flipping off the cap.

"When'd you get out?" Duncan asked before deciding he didn't care dropping a few in his mouth. Predictably when he tried to swallow, Duncan almost chocked on the pills and was forced to spit them back out. Duncan slammed the back of his head against the ground in frustration before noticing his new angle allowed him to see the public water fountain looming behind him. "Huh, what are the odds of that?"

Duncan grunted defiantly as he used all his strength to flip himself over onto his gut, and just like that the memory of the family's lime green sedan charging into him appeared in his head, with the pain of two tons of metal smashing into his body. Annoyed beyond words Duncan bit his lip as he grabbed hold of the cement covered pipe and hoisted himself to his knees. Duncan's arms feeling like two wet noodles that were somehow also on fire. Squeezing down the handle of the fountain like a hangman's ax, Duncan wouldn't have been surprised if he gobbled half the damn bottle in a rushed swig. The water from the fountain tasted like toxic runoff but it did its job, and after the final gulp Duncan collapsed and hit the ground on his side like a bottle inside a paper bag. Smashing on contact broken bits held together in a lose container.

" _Bruuhhh_." Duncan groaned, or burped. He couldn't tell. He couldn't care. Not through how dizzy he felt. "P-pills kick in that fast? Nah, I'm not that lucky. Gotta be dying."

"Well don't do it in public."

Tilting his head up, Duncan saw a woman, girl really. Middle to late teens and hotter than hell. Straight dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her face was beautiful. High cheekbones, tiny nose, full lips, heavy black lashes. The girl was wearing a tight gray sports bra, black leggings, and matching tennis shoes. Which allowed Duncan to see how flawless and silky smooth her skin was. Mocha brown, just a few shades darker than her hair. Just Duncan's type. He was always partial to darker skin, Mediterranean Persian. That sorta thing. Duncan could tell the girl wasn't quite that, but close enough. What was more than enough was her chest, even through the tight sports bra Duncan could tell she was stacked. That along with her thick thighs, curvy legs, and if god had any kinda love toward humanity, a bubble butt. This was the kinda girl that belonged on the cover of 'jack it at work, buy our shit' magazine.

"Find some ditch or alley and die there." The girl said, squinting at Duncan. "Where your kind belongs."

"Wow," Duncan smirked. "cold princess."

"N-no, I'm not." The girl stuttered, squinting harder as she smushed her lips together and folded her arms. Unfortunately that last bit covered up her chest at the angle Duncan was laying at. "Is there a reason why I shouldn't be calling an ambulance... or the police?"

"Go ahead, call the cops." Duncan shrugged, instantly cringed from the pain. His neck and shoulders felt like broken glass again. Smacking the back of his head into the dirt, Duncan chuckled best he could. "I'm sure they'll love hearing about you harassing a guy taking his dog to the park."

"Not as much as they'll be interested in a garbage covered homeless junkie collapsing in public after a fight with a hobo." The girl smirked back. "Leaving the rabid mutt he was saving for a dog fight to run loose and apart rip anyone it waddles into. Oh yes, I'm sure the cops will prioritize lil o'l me over you."

"... HAHAHA! You're better at BS'n than I am." Duncan laughed, god it hurt to laugh. That shattered rod of glass in his neck were his ribs now. "Not a homeless junkie, just look like one. And me mutt isn't an attack dog. He's a mascot... well, was."

"You're right." The girl rolled her eyes. "You're BS is way less believable. Are you telling me I was wrong about the fight?"

"More of a beating." Duncan nodded. "But you won't believe who done it. Hint, it involves monsters and my brother with the family car."

"If you're going to lie, at least put some effort into it." The girl glared. "Try to make it sound believable."

"Its all the truth."

"You're a garbage covered neanderthal that just gobbled a bottle of pills like it was gummy bears." The girl put a hand on her hips. "That's enough proof for the junkie hobo part."

"Wellll..." Duncan winked. "Woke up on a dumpster mattress. Took a junker cab. Then I got kicked out of my own house by me splendid ma to walk the slobbering mutt before I could take a shower. As for the pills, see above for monster beating in every sense of the word before having a roadkill 101 course with my D-bag of a brother as the teacher. Pretty sure you'd gobble pills by then if you still got any ribs- Oh, speaking of."

Duncan picked that time to groan as he patted the top of his gut and cringed, though only partially from the pain. Duncan winked as he saw the girl cringe back at him. The girl continued to look at Duncan for what had to be a solid minute, just standing there above him doing nothing before- finally, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Your BS might sound worse but you are committed." The girl tilted her head to the side, agreeing with her own point. "I'll give you that."

Duncan could only laugh before cringing again, this time it was just from pain.

"Damn princess, don't make me laugh. It hurts, it really does. " Duncan smiled, making sure his mouth was closed to hold in a girly screech. "S'pecially if its tru- hey what are you doing?"

What she was doing was stealing his pills. Walked right over to him and pulled the bottle out of Duncan's hands like it was candy and he was a baby. For a reason Duncan didn't know that hurt worse than the beating and the car ramming put together.

'Why doesn't she cut off my dick while she's at it?'

"Well..." The girl said, examining the bottle. "These are for pain. You weren't lying about that. But I really doubt they're prescribed to you."

"Got me, princess." Duncan smiled back, enjoying the look of confusion on the girl's face. "They're my brothers."

"The one that ran you over?" The girl asked, her confused look turning to concerned before she turned back to the bottle. "He's taking these? That might explain some things."

"Other brother." Duncan explained. "He's on deployment. Left'em in his room last time he visited."

"Well if he's anything like you i guess it makes sense he forgot his anti-psycho meds for his dirty baby brother to get his grubby mitts on." The girl said sticking her tongue out smugly at Duncan. "Shame on you Mr. Daron Thatch."

"Lance Corporal, actually."

"Whatever." The girl shook her head before looking back down at Duncan like he was something she skuffed off her shoe. "Did you really steal this from your brother the soldier?"

"Marine, way more badass." Duncan clarified. "But when every last member of your family is one its hard to be scared."

"S-seriously?" The girl asked. "Aren't you an open book."

"Meh." Duncan shrugged, and cringed. 'Hello pain, forgot you were there.'

"Hold on," The girl rubbed her temple. "you're telling me that you're from a family of fine 'badass marines', but you're a beaten up thief who belongs in a hospital and a jail cell."

"I know." Duncan knew he was smiling like a clown, but he didn't care. "I fit right in."

The girl looked at Duncan silently again, not moving just like before. Even opening her mouth a few times. No sound coming out. Soon enough the girl stopped, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Okay, this is getting way too weird." The girl exhaled. "Will you at least stand up?"

"Nope." Duncan shook his head, and instantly gagged. "G-gah, can't. Hurts too much."

"How about that bench over there." The girl said, pointing to the old cement bench with no back next to the side walk. "Its not too far."

"Uhhh...Nope, can't do it. Can't even get up. " The bench was a good ten feet away, no problem any other day. But today Duncan couldn't feel his legs. The girl didn't need to know that though, and he'd rather cut'em off than tell her that. To work that, he'd have to play it up. Gripping the grass beneath him, Duncan pretended to lift himself up with thee most pathetic fake whine he could do. Duncan managed to make it about an inch, maybe, before collapsing back on the ground. Judging by the look on the girl's face she was not amused as Duncan raised a hand to her. "Gonna have to help me princess."

"Hmmm, okay." The girl smirked knowingly and for the tiniest moment, it looked like his mom's knowing smirk. Right before she jammed him with the sword. That's when Duncan saw the girl pick up a large branch next to them. Even though he got to see her turn around and discover the girl did indeed have a bubble butt inside those tight leggings, it wasn't much of a conversation prize. Especially when she started poking at him with it."Hold still."

" _Ahhh_ , what are you doing?"

"I'm helping you." The girl answered, the smug look still on her face as she jabbed him with the stick under his shoulder. "Now seriously, hold still."

'God, it feels I've been shot.' Duncan thought as he grabbed the branch. "So you're poking me like roadkill?"

"You did say you were run over." The girl joked, pulling away the branch and jabbing at him again. "I'm flipping you over.. and I wanted to see if you were actually hurt. You were, so you're not a total liar. Good for you."

"Owww, that was my nose. Damn it." Duncan said, grabbing the branch with both hands. Instantly the girl yanked Duncan onto his stomach and dropped the branch. Duncan clamped his jaw hard to hold in a scream as he turned his gaze back at the girl. It must've been harsher than he thought because she actually took a step back. Using the branch as a crutch Duncan lifted himself to his feet and started waddling toward the bench. "You coming?"

"H-huh?" The girl stuttered, her face blank as her eyes were shifted down before they shot up back to his. Shaking her head before glaring at him, the girl strutted past him like a spoiled purse dog and squatting down on the bench like damn peacock. One leg crossed over the other. The girl's baby browns staring hard at his his faded green. "I'm waiting."

'She was staring at my ass. Huh, covered in garbage and beat to shit. Girl can't keep her eyes off me.' Duncan thought hobbling over next to her. "I'm coming princess, I'm coming."

"I know you're full of shit, but don't smile like you eat it." The girl said, crossing her arms at him.

"Girl's got zinngers. Nice." Duncan said, the grin only growing on his face as he sat down next to her on the bench. "What else you got?"

"Ugh, don't even." The girl cringed, scooting away from him as she fanned the air from her face. "You were not kidding about the dumpster thing. Wow."

"So was the part about the no shower thing..." Duncan slumped, didn't even care about the pain. "Sorry about that."

"Forget about that, doesn't matter." The girl looked away, resting her chin on her palm. "...it's about the pills."

That got Duncan's attention. "Huh, okay."

"Can you, get other kinds?"

"Anything specific?" Duncan asked.

"Just tell me if you can?" The girl asked, her face still turned away.

"If you'd look at me you'd see me nodding." Duncan joked, actually nodding. "Fraid of the super spy dro-"

"If you get me the stuff I want I'll pay you."

"How much?" Duncan asked, folding his arms- and regretting instantly. 'Damn it.'

"Enough for one person." The girl explained, holding up one finger. "The pay will be fair, reasonable, an-"

"Done." Duncan said without thinking, he didn't care. But he answered so fast it surprised the girl, if the look on her face when she turned back to him meant anything.

"J-just like that?" The girl stammered, her face a mix between confused and reluctant.

"Just like that." Duncan nodded, ignoring the glass rod breaking feeling in his neck yet again. "I'll get a chance to meet up with you again. That's enough."

"W-whatever." The stuttered again as she rolled her eyes. Duncan played up his smirk when he saw the blush on the girl's face.

It got silent after that. The girl looked forward at the park and Duncan lingered, staring at her figure for a bit before doing the same.

"Sooo, what brought you here anyway?" Duncan asked. "This on your jogging route?"

"No." The girl shrugged. "This is where I take my dog. Where did she go anywa- oh my god!"

Looking where the girl's horrified glare was pointed at, Duncan saw his shin high trusty bulldog Chesty on top of what had to be a waist high grey and brown poodle. The bulldog's front paws spread out over the poodle's back as his little back legs went to town. Duncan laughed. He laughed loud. He laughed hard and he fell off the bench.


End file.
